ANNETTE’S STORY: THE IDEA BEHIND MORE THAN CARROTS

“I think my story is quite typical. About two years ago, I decided to eat less meat for environmental reasons. I didn’t want to make a fuss about it. I didn’t want to change my social life. And I definitely didn’t want to take on a new identity as ‘a vegetarian’. All I wanted to do was limit my meat consumption to the occasions when my body craved meat.

What got in the way was that I also love food. I’m very curious and love to explore new dishes and cuisines. Ordering 2 or 3 sides instead of a main dish doesn’t do the trick for me. ‘Not having meat’ also wasn’t a strong enough priority for me to go for the veggie option at restaurants that didn’t offer anything beyond goat’s cheese salad or mushroom risotto. At home it was easy, but at restaurants I quite often ended up eating meat because everything else would have been a hassle or a sacrifice.

What bothered me is this: We know that animal agriculture at its current scale destroys the environment. And yet, meat consumption twice or three times a day is still very much the norm. We could obviously wait until lab-grown meat or new meat replacements solve the problem. But there is so much amazing veggie food out there now! Why is it still so hard to eat veggie dishes at most restaurants? What are we waiting for?

I became obsessed with figuring this out. That’s why I started More Than Carrots.”

CHARLOTTE'S STORY: BRINGING MORE THAN CARROTS TO LIFE

“Annette and I were introduced by mutual friends in 2016. I'd been looking for the exact position she was hiring for, something with a mission focus and a specialism in design. It seemed what she liked to do, I didn't and what I liked to do, she didn't. It was the perfect fit and I've never looked back!

I've been a Vegetarian since I was 8. Growing up in a meat-eating family I longed to be considered 'normal' in social situations. In restaurants this usually meant keeping quiet about the 4th or 5th mushroom risotto I'd eaten that week.”

MORE THAN CARROTS’ STORY: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM & HOW CAN WE SOLVE IT?

“We started this business because we saw a problem that needs solving, not so much because we saw an obvious opportunity. Let’s just say that we’ve had to learn a lot as a result!

A dish-based restaurant search tool was our starting point, but it didn’t really work. Next, we tried restaurant-based search, events, gift boxes… The last 1.5 years were probably the toughest and also most inspiring ones for both of us. What has kept us going is that we keep running into restaurant menus with very few or no vegetarian options, over and over.

What our followers kept asking us for is a tool that allows them to check whether a restaurant is good at veggie. Not so much to find new ideas, but to compare their options. In order to create that we had to go beyond celebrating great veggie menus. We had to come up with a repeatable way of deciding which restaurants do NOT offer a great veggie menu for meat reducers.

We know that not everyone will like this and we are ready to keep learning and iterating. In the meantime, please let us know whether we hit the spot! We are always excited about feedback!”